midnight shopping @black friday

i am never a person who would get up early to go shopping on 'black friday', no matter how cheap the things get discounted.

this year, i decided to give it a try. not to get up early, but to stay up and go shop starting at midnight. the gilroy premium outlets have been organizing their midnight shopping event for the past few thanksgiving black fridays. all participating stores open doors at midnight through 10pm the next day.

don't assume that no one will shop through the night.
there were lots of people.


the line outside of the coach store at 12:00am... the end of the line is already on the other end of the plaza!




overall, the stores were only slightly more crowded compared to a regular weekend. i was disappointed the discounts were not that great of a deal though. the sales were what you'd normally expect from the outlets.


2:39am - our first victim of the night... fighting to stay awake




mcdonalds was the ONLY food place open and it was crazy inside!

3:20am - the most crowded mcdonalds i've ever been




3:39am - our mcmuffins, hash browns, coffee and juice - finally after the longest fast food wait




5:13am - mission accomplished and homeward bound



surprisingly, staying up all night wasn't so bad and the experience was not negative either. but maybe having this experience once was enough...

shopping at the outlets

outlet malls are becoming more and more popular in japan. this weekend, i went to the mitsui outlet park at marine pia kobe (三井アウトレットパーク マリンピア神戸) in tarumi (垂水区). it isn't a very big outlet park, with only 2 wings and about 80 shops. they are mostly japanese brands, but you can also find some american brands like nike, adidas, lacoste, and juicy couture. the quality is above normal outlet standard, and it's definitely a popular attraction because of its great ocean view!

from home, it is about 40 minutes away by train.


you can enjoy a spectacular ocean view during the last 10 minutes of the train ride too!


the outlet park is built around the theme of a lively southern european seaport town


the shops face a boat pier and an open piazza for weekend outdoor events


and just a few steps away is the akashi kaikyo bridge (明石海峡橋) that spans over to awaji-shima (淡路島), then further reaches over to shikoku (四国).

in kansai

hi all! i safely arrived in osaka 3 days ago! weather here has been very sunny and warm the first 2 days, and a few small showers hit today. but overall it's been pleasant. jetlag has not affected me much either!

the area i'm now in is not exactly osaka. together with kobe, kyoto, and many other cities, they're called the kansai area (関西). but osaka and kobe are both within a 30-minute train ride from where i live, so it is easy access to these 2 cities.

may 3rd to may 6th is a long weekend for the japanese. it's their golden week, which consists of consecutive national holidays. people usually get a full week off (depending if the weekends land in between these holidays) but this year 2 of the holidays are on saturday and sunday, so most people only have 4 days off. the holidays definitely brought the crowd outside!

for 2 days in a row, we were hanging out in kobe. didn't really shop much (yet), but already had a few great meals!

the real sushi "belt" instead of the westernized sushi "boat" :P

whole baby squid - don't worry, they're not alive


strawberries that are hand packed to perfection - each one is the same size, shape, and color


vietnamese pho lunch set, nicely presented

a view of kobe from the restaurant

kobe welcomed its first IKEA store on april 16th. since IKEAs are rare in japan, everyone came to see this "new attraction" during golden week. we were hoping to make it a quick run and just pick up a few items since we're pretty familiar with the self-serve system. however, we got there and was told that the line to enter would be 3 hours!! that's crazier than the longest line at Disneyland! nah, it's not worth waiting that long at IKEA... so we turned back. maybe i'll come back on a day when everyone else is at work. :)

the huge structure, well, just like any other IKEAs

the train station was decorated with the IKEA theme

they also had one of the trains decorated with IKEA sofas and fabrics, but we kept missing that train... since we didn't get to ride it, here's a picture from the promotional material

package from safarisister

the pair of handmade earrings that i ordered from safarisister arrived today!!

bitten by the etsy bug

notice my new site header and colors? i was recently introduced to Etsy and was totally inspired to create a unique header for myself.

so what is Etsy? according to the website, "Etsy is an online marketplace for buying and selling all things handmade". (they say the origin of the word Etsy is still a mystery...) launched in 2005, they now have over 100,000 sellers from around the world. they are a truly unique and creative site which you can find almost anything you can think of. i found out about Etsy because my friend, safarisister, recently opened shop for her one-of-a-kind, handmade jewelry. at first, i thought it's just a domain name for her to host her online shop. well, i'm completely amazed after browsing through other sellers' pages!

there are so many products available for purchase, or simply to be admired and inspired. imagine you're on ebay, but with things that come from highly creative and talented individuals. it's truly a wonderful place for all creative minds to meet. too bad i'm not one of them. i definitely LOVE LOVE LOVE to browse around though!

these are on my favorites list (so far):
alyssa ettinger designs
ball and chain jewelry
foundling accessories
karaku japanese fabric
quiltification fabric things
timothy adam designs
and of course... safarisister jewelry

after much difficulty choosing from safarisister's collection (because i wanted everything!), i finally picked a winner and made my first ever Etsy purchase. y e a h !

if you're a girl who needs a little something for yourself, or if you're a guy who's searching for a perfect jewelry piece for your girl (my wise advice: all guys do), don't forget to check out her collection!